Safety holding board for use in caring for babies



April 29, 1952 J R, DONNEN 2,594,883

SAFETY HOLDING BOARD FOR USE; IN CARING FOR BABIES Filed July 2, 1946 2SHEETS-SHEET l j "7' INVENTOR JAMES R.DONNEN A TORNEYS April 1952 J. R.DONNEN 2,594,883

SAFETY HOLDING BOARD FOR USE INv CARING FOR BABIES Filed July 2, 1946 2SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR JAMES R. DONNEN M flu? ATTORNEY Patented Apr.29, .1952

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY HOLDING BOARD FOR. USE IN CARING FORBABIES- James It. Donnen, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 2, 1946, Serial No. 681,090

used to hold ababy in position while it is being dressed, bathed orotherwise attended to.

"In the care of babies it is often necessary for a mother or nurse toadminister to the babys needs in situations where the usual babysdressing table is not available for use and some temporary means ofsupport such as a table or a bed has to be utilized for supporting thebaby while it is being attended to. When such occasions arise it isextremely difficult to accomplish the tasks required because the activemovements of the baby are apt to cause it to roll or fall off thetemporary support unless it is held in position with one hand, by themother or nurse, and the work accomplished by the use of the other hand.

it is the main object. of the present invention to provide a novelportable form of safety holding board adaptable for use in attending tothe needs of a baby, which may be used upon any suitable flat surface,and which is so constructed that it will not only comfortably supportandhold the baby so that the mother or nurse may use both of her hands incarrying out the required tasks, but will also prevent the baby fromrolling or falling oif the support upon which the board is used.

A further object of the invention is to provide a portable safetyholding board for use in caring for babies which is provided with hingedside sections adapted to be held in a raised position with respect tothe plane of the main surface of the board by the baby holding means,and so that said hinged sections will provide side barriers to preventwater or other cleansing materials used on the baby from splashing orrunning over upon the support upon which the board is used.

Other and further objects of the invention are illustrated in thedrawings, described in the specification and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

inthe drawings Figure 1 is .a perspective view of a general form of babysafety holding board made in accordance with my invention and showing itsupported-upon a table top and with a baby held in position thereon;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the safety holding board shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an edge view of the board;

Figure 4 is a plan view or a modified form of baby holding board made inaccordance with 3 Claims. (01. 12s. '1s4) 2 the invention andconstructed with hinged side sections;

Figure 5 is a central sectional view of the construction shown inlffigure 4; and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but indicating the position ofthe hinged sections'of themodified form of construction when they arebeing held in a raised position by the baby holding straps. Therelationship of the baby held in position on the board by the straps isindicated in this figure by dotted lines.

Referring to the construction illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 the safetyholding board is designated generally by the numeral i. The board may bemade of a thin fiat rectangular shaped piece of material preferably ofwood, and of a size sufiiciently large enough to comfortably support ababy thereon. The holding board may also be made of any desired shape.In the drawings the board is shown shaped so that it is provided with arounded top or head portion 2 and with a square shaped bottom portion 3formed with rounded corners. The upper face of the body holding board iscovered with a suitable cloth material preferably of a type which isWater resistant or waterproof. This covering cloth may .be sewed,stitched or otherwise secured to the board and so that it will besmoothly stretched over the top face of the same. A similar type ofcovering may be applied to the underface of the safety holding board sothat said face will not scratch or mar the surface of the support uponWhich the device is used. The upper face of the board is also providedwith a resilient padding material which is held in place by the coveringcloth. The padding material is intended to be positioned upon the upperface of the board in such manner that the top or head portion 2 thereof, where the babys head will lie, is provided with more of suchmaterial than the lower portion and so that it will form a comfortablehead rest for the baby.

Secured to the under side of the baby holding board in any suitablemanner and extending from each side thereof are the free ends of thelooped straps 4 and 5. The looped ends of these straps are provided withmetal ring members 6 and i which are adapted to receive therethrough are movable strap member generally indicated by the numeral 8. The strapmember 8 is adapted to be inserted through the ring members 6 and i insuch manner that the portion 9 thereof will extend underneath the middleportion of the babys body when the baby is lying in position upon theboard and the ends [0 and it will extend around and over the baby's bodyand so that they may be fastened together by passing the end if! througha metal fastening means l2 which is secured to the end I l of the strap.

It will be noted that by reason of the arrangement of the fasteningstraps as above referred to the baby, when placed upon the safetyholding board, may be securely and, comfortably held in positionthereon, and a mother or nurse who is to care for the baby is enabled toaccomplish her tasks by using both hands and without fear of the babyrolling or falling off the safety board or on the support upon which theboard is positioned. Also, although the baby is securely held by theholding straps, it will still have complete freedom of movement of itshead, arms and legs.

When the safety holding board is to be used, it may quickly bepositioned upon any flat surface such for instance as a table top asillustrated at It, in Figure l, and even though the baby may be veryactive in its movements, the wide flat surface of the board will preventit from becoming upset or dislodged from its position upon the support.

After the baby has been cared for by the mother or nurse it can bequickly removed from the holding board by releasing the holding strapsand the board can then be removed from the supporting surface and storedin some suitable place where it will take up little space.

In the modified form of construction shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, thereis provided a baby holding board It which may be similar in shape tothat illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, and it may also be made of a similarmaterial and covered with cloth, as previously described. However, inthis form of constructionthe safety holding board is made so that thereis provided two triangular shaped portions I5 and I6 at the sidesthereof which are separate pieces of material and formed with notchedportions [6 where they are adapted to join the main portion of theholding device. These triangular shaped portions may be held in placewith respect to the main portion of the board by means of cloth orleather hinges which are intended to be positioned along the notchedportions [6 and so that they may be bent upwardly from the plane of theremainder of the safety holding board to form side barriers when theboard is being used.

Secured to the underside of the main body of the safety holding board,at a point adjacent to the joinder of the hinged portions l5 and I6therewith, are the free ends of the looped straps H and :8. These loopedstraps extend across the underside of the hinged portions l5 and I5 andare each provided with the metal ring members l9 and 20. The ringmembers are adapted to receive therethrough a removable strap memberindicated generally by the numeral 2|. The strap member 21 is adapted tobe inserted through the ring members [9 and in such a. manner that theportion 22 thereof will lie upon the safety holding board and so that itwill extend underneath the body of the baby when it is positioned on theboard. In Figure 6 the position of the strap portion with respect to thebabys body is shown with the baby's body indicated in dotted lines. Thefree ends 23 and 24 of the strap extend around and over the baby's bodyand so that they may be fastened together by passing the end 23 througha metal fastening device 25 securedto the end 24 of the strap. I

In this modified form of construction, when the baby is secured in placeon the safety holding board by the strap 2|, the looped straps I! and I8are caused to be pulled upwardly and they in turn cause the hingedportions l5 and 6 to be lifted upwardly from the plane of the remainderof the holding board and said hinged portions are yieldingly held insuch a position as shown in Figure 6 to form side barriers for theholding board to prevent water or other liquids or materials which maybe used upon the baby from splashing or spilling over on to the surfaceof the support upon which the holding board is used. Furthermore, byreason of this hinged construction of the sides of the holding board,the strap IT and I8 and strap 2| will function to yieldingly hold thebaby in place upon the holding device rather than to rigidly restrain itas would be the case when the baby is secured to the holding deviceshown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety holding board upon which a baby may lie when being attended,comprising a rectangular-shaped, flat supporting structure made of arigid materialand formed with a main supporting section and withseparate rigid hinged triangular-shaped side sections, a pair of loopedstrap holding means, each having its free end secured to the under-faceof said main support ing section at a point adjacent the joint of thehinged side sections therewith, and extending across the under side ofsaid triangular surface beyond the outer side edges thereof, andprovided with metal ring members at their looped ends, a removable strapassociated with said looped strap holding means, said strap extendingthrough said metal ring members and being adapted to have its endssecured together to hold the baby in position on said supportingstructure, and to raise said hinged side portions at an angle with theplane of the supporting structure when so secured, and means foradjustably securing the ends of said removable straps together to holdthe baby on said supporting structure to maintain said hinged sideportions in their raised positions.

2. A safety holding device for use in caring for babies, comprising aflat supporting board made of a rigid material, upon which a baby maylie, having a main supporting section and triangular-shaped sidesections hingedly secured thereto,.said side sections being formed withnotched portions where they join the main supporting section and held inplace with respect to said main supporting section by hinge meanspositioned along said notched portions, a pair of looped straps eachhaving its free end secured to the under face of said main supportingsection of the supporting board and adjacent the joint of the hingedportion therewith, so that their looped portions will extend across theunder face of the hinged side sections and beyond the edges thereof,ring members held by the looped ends of said straps, a removable strapinserted through said ring members and adapted to encircle the body of ababy positioned on the board, and means to adjustably secure the ends ofsaid strap together to hold the baby in position upon said supportingboard and to hold said hinged side sections in a raised position withrespect to the plane of the supporting board.

3.'A safety holding device for use incaring for babies, comprising arectangular-shaped, flat supporting board made of arigid materialflandhaving a central rigid main supporting section t5 and triangularlyshaped separate rigid hinged side portions joined to said main sectionto permit swinging upwardly from the plane of the board, a pair oflooped straps each having its free ends secured to the under face of thestructure and adjacent to the joint of the hinged side portions with themain su port and so that the looped portions will extend across theinner face of the hinged side portions and beyond the edges thereof, aremovable strap associated with the looped portions of said loopedstraps and adapted to encircle the body of a baby when it is positionedupon the supporting board, and means to adjustably secure the ends ofsaid straps together to yieldingly hold the baby in position on saidsupporting board and to yieldingiy 1101 the hinged side sections in araised position with re spect to the plane of the supporting means.

JAMES R. DONNEN.

err-en The following references are of record in the of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 722,456 Reeves Mar. 10, 1903837,373 Akers Dec. 4, 1906 2,4091% Crawford Oct. 15, 1946 FOREIGNPiiTEilTS Plumber Country Date 77,5303 Ausqria Au 11, 1919 OTHERREFERENCES l iollingworth, Carl J., A Device for Transporting PatientsWith Reduced Fracture of Femur, Journal of American Medical Association,Jan. 13, 1934.

